A Terrible entry to an Unspectacular challenge
by Cartoonatic55
Summary: Title pretty much says it all: it's an entry for a friend's four-oneshot/fourshot Halloween challenge. It's probably not very good, but at least I tried. Fair warning, though; the first oneshot is a bit dark and pretty much why this is rated T.
1. Chapter 1: Ocean

**_A/N: Hey, guys, it's me again. I know I haven't written anything in a while (understatement), but once again it seems that E350's Halloween Unspectacular contest has put me in the mood to write again. I consider myself very lucky to have won the first time, but I have no idea what might happen this year. I guess I'll have to find out._**

**_Disclaimer: The only character I own in this chapter is Vernon Kingston, which isn't saying much._**

_Other: Hey, I've got an idea for a drinking game; take a shot every time this chapter makes a reference to either The Who or something Disney-related! ...On second thought, maybe that's not such a good idea; I don't want to get you guys wasted (it's not like any of you guys would get the Who references anyway)._

* * *

**Ocean**

A young, spiky-haired brunette looked out over the ocean as he leaned against the railing of the ship. He sighed as he watched the waves roll while his mind started to wander. The trip to England with his friends was interesting for him, but some of the places they had visited...There was something about them that seemed so familiar, like he'd been there before, which didn't make any sense since the only place in England he'd ever been to before then was London. While he was still there, it didn't really bother him too much at the time since he was so focused on what he, Riku and Kairi were doing for most of the vacation, but now that he had some time to himself, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

At least, not until some young blond stumbled next to him and started clutching the railing like his life depended on it.

Sora looked over at the stranger. He looked young- barely in his twenties- and was breathing heavily. "Um...Are you okay?" he asked. He had to admit that it was a stupid question since he clearly wasn't alright, but maybe this would keep his mind off of his other thoughts for a while.

The young man hesitantly tried to stand upright and stop his legs from shaking while he steadied his breathing back to normal. He took out a handkerchief and wiped a bit of sweat off of his brow before he managed to answer with, "Not really."

"What's the matter? Never been out at sea before?"

"No," the blond admitted quietly.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Ah, it's alright. It's not like you knew."

Sora nodded slowly and started to turn his head back towards the ocean. Once again his mind started to wander back to his trip and all of the places he'd visited. It all seemed like some sort of old dream or flashback sequence from a movie, all of which played out in his mind as he continued to stare blankly at the water.

_Is it me, for a moment?_

"Sir? Are _you_ alright?"

"Huh?" Sora's thoughts were once again interrupted by the stranger. He turned to face him again and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You...asked if it was you for a moment."

"Did I?" His eyes wandered towards the sea again, but this time he only focused on it for a few seconds before the stranger spoke again.

"It's Kingston, by the way."

"What?"

"My name," the blond clarified, "is Vernon Kingston. Sorry, I just felt a bit silly not introducing myself to you."

"Oh. I'm Sora."

"Sora...?"

"Just Sora," he told him. There was a small pause between the two of them before the one named Kingston spoke again.

"I don't mean to be rude, but is there a reason that you keep staring out there?"

Again, there was a pause. Sora wasn't sure whether or not he should try telling anyone about what was on his mind, let alone some stranger he barely knew, but these thoughts, or whatever someone would call them, had been bothering him so much that he felt that he had to at least try to tell someone about them.

"Well, I've been having these weird...I don't know if they're dreams or what."

Kingston shrugged. "Who honestly doesn't every now and then?"

"I know, but these just feel so...different. I mean, have you ever visited some place where you know you've never been before, and somehow you just...know stuff about that place that you shouldn't be able to know?"

Kingston slowly shook his head. "Why? Like what?"

"Well...First of all there was this one hotel that my friends and I stayed in, and I seemed to recognize a picture of one of the bellboys who worked there back in the seventies or something like that. I never told anybody this, but I could've sworn that I had met him once. Then when we went out and visited a few places and they mentioned a few riots that had happened there years ago, I could just imagine myself being there. Not like someone usually would, either; I felt like I was really part of it." Sora turned away again, facing the ocean. He couldn't bring himself to look away from it now as he continued to explain. "But...I think the thing that got me the most was when we visited those cliffs..."

"Cliffs?"

"Yeah. There was just something about being up at the top of those cliffs and staring down at the water below that...It made me think about jumping off." Sora looked over at Kingston, who now looked very frightened and concerned, and then he quickly added, "I mean, I'd never actually do it! What I meant was that while I was staring out there, I kept having these...these visions... I had visions about finding myself underwater while hearing these strange voices in my head. I've had dreams like that before, and those felt just as real as this, but this...this felt different."

"Do you know how it was different?"

"Well, I felt like it was happening to me, but at the same time, I felt like I was someone else; someone who was angry at everything in the world and just had enough of it all." Sora finally turned away from the ocean and faced Kingston. "Ever since then I couldn't stop thinking about what that could mean. Did all of that really happen to me before, or is it in my head?"

"I...I really don't know, sir," Kingston quietly answered.

Sora noticed that he still seemed stunned by this sudden revelation of a complete stranger, but he couldn't blame him for that. "Look, I'm really sorry that I told you about any of this. I mean, you don't even really know me."

"Well, it _is_ awkward, I admit that, but I asked you about it, so I suppose that's sort of my own fault." He looked down at his wristwatch for a moment before he added, "Though I have to admit, you seemed to somewhat remind me of..."

"Of what?"

"Well, there's a bit of an old...I guess you could call it a legend...There was once this boy- I belive he was about your age- who ended up committing suicide, or rather tried to."

Sora's eyes widened. "What do you mean 'tried'? Did he live?"

Kingston shook his head. "That's just it; nobody seems to really know what happened to him. What happened after that seems to vary from person to person; some say he lived and went on to live a different life from the one he had before, others say he died and the body was lost at sea, and then there are others involving creatures like mermaids, sirens, selkies, witches, aliens, some sort of fish people, I think I've even heard one person mention a sea-dwelling dragon...All the stories seem to have one thing in common, though; he was never heard from again afterwards."

"Really?" Sora asked, now starting to feel even less comfortable, as if that were possible. "So...do you think that might have anything to do with what's happening to me?"

"It might. I mean, who knows? Stranger things have happened." He paused and glanced at his watch again. "Well, I'm terribly sorry that I wasted your time and made you so uncomfortable, so I think I'd better leave before I make things worse."

"Wait a minute. I know that I've already told you more than you wanted to know, but before you go, can I ask you something else?"

"I...suppose so."

"What are the odds of the two of us meeting again somewhere else once we're off this ship?"

Kingston paused and seemed to think it over for a few seconds before he shrugged. "It seems rather unlikely, unless you just so happen to be headed towards Passamaquoddy."

"Passama-what?"

"It's a very small American town," he explained. "It has some sort of a local legend concerning its lighthouse and a dragon."

"I've never heard of it before, so I guess that answers that."

"I guess so...but like I said, stranger things have happened, so maybe we will."

"Yeah, maybe." Sora's thoughts were beginning to drift away again, but before he could let that happen, he gave a small nod to Kingston and said, "Well, thanks for listening, I guess."

"Um...You're welcome. It was...interesting," he admitted.

Sora watched the blond walk away for a while before he started staring back at the ocean like before. He could hardly believe that he had just randomly confessed some of his more troublesome thoughts to a complete stranger. Granted, he was used to giving certain information to others that he may or may not have known long, but that involved times of trouble for multiple people, not just himself. He did seem to shake him up a bit with what he said, but he did seem to take it alright. What if he hadn't taken it as well as he did, though? What would that mean for him?

"Sora!"

Sora whirled around just in time to see Kairi run up to him and wrap her arms around him while Riku casually walked up to them.

"Hey, you haven't been avoiding us on purpose, have you?" Riku joked.

"No way," he chuckled.

Kairi gently released her grasp on him and tilted her head slightly to look past him for a moment. "So, who was that guy we saw you talking to?" she asked.

"Oh, him? Uh, I don't know, actually. I mean, I do know his name is Vernon Kingston, but that's about it."

"Really? Then what were you guys talking about?"

"Well...I'll tell you guys later. Don't worry too much about it; I kinda doubt I'll be seeing him again anyway."

Little did either one of them know that many years later they would meet again, only under very different circumstances; by then, Vernon would be a psychologist, and Sora would be one of his patients.

* * *

**_A/N: ...I would say that Namine screwed up big time while handling Sora's memories, but I don't think she's responsible for whatever happened here.  
_****_Yeah, I guess I should've warned you all that this isn't a good chapter. I guess I also should've warned you that this was gonna be a bit darker than my entries for the first year's contest (or most anything I've written, actually). Uh, oops? Then again, I did rate it T for a reason...  
I have no idea if the rest of the oneshots will be like this (I hope not), so, again, we'll have to wait and see._**

**_And before you go saying "but this isn't a crossover":  
1: It will be soon enough.  
2: Technically this chapter could count a crossover of sorts; it just involves Kingdom Hearts and a fairly obscure concept album/rock opera (granted I probably twisted the events of what happened at the end of the latter)._**


	2. Chapter 2: Rain

**_A/N: Well, here's chapter two. Fortunately, this one's not as dark as the last one. Also, one bit at the beginning does seem to go along with the last chapter in a way, so make of that what you will._**

**_Review responses:_**

**_ObitoRinnegan: Wow, thank you very much! While I don't think that chapter was truly terrible (the name's actually inspired by Halloween Unspectacular, which isn't that unspectacular), I did think it was kinda confusing and lackluster._**

**_E350: Thanks. I think that means quite a lot coming from you._**

**_TweenisodeOrange: Oh, you know The Who, too? That's cool. I don't really know that many people on here who do. That's alright if you're not that familiar with Kingdom Hearts. (Not that it matters, but my knowledge of it pretty much stops at the second one.) Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Disclaimer: If any of these characters belonged to me, then why would I bother writing fanfiction about them?_**

_Other: Just to prevent any possible confusion someone may have on this, the bus in this is not the Foster's bus or the one from Camp Lazlo; it's just a bus._

* * *

**Rain**

"Mac, it's still raining!"

Mac gave his imaginary friend an annoyed glare. "I know it is, but what do you want me to do about it? I can't change the weather!" He crossed his arms and started looking outside the window. "Besides, at least we're inside the bus; it's not like we're gonna get wet unless someone opens one of the doors or windows."

"Well, why is it taking so long for Wilt and Frankie to fix it?" Bloo whined again as he now stood up on the seat and started looking outside.

"How should I know? Now would you stop complaining? That's not gonna help anyone."

"Fine," he groaned before he slumped back down in his seat.

Across the row from Mac and Bloo, a young red-headed girl lightly poked the shoulder of the spiky-haired brunette sitting next to her and staring out the window. "Sora, you've been staring out there for a while now."

Sora turned around and gave Kairi a somewhat uneasy grin. "Sorry; I didn't notice."

"It's okay." She paused before she asked, "You're still thinking about England, aren't you?"

"Yeah, kinda," he admitted. "I didn't think it'd be raining so much here, too."

"Well, don't worry about it so much; we'll be out of here eventually."

In the very back of the bus, a bright, yellow sponge with bright blue eyes decided to stand up in his seat. "Well, everyone, how about we all do something together while we're waiting for the bus to start up again?" he suggested.

"Do we have to?" someone from the front groaned.

SpongeBob looked all the way over to a familiar face towards the front behind the driver. "Ah, come on, Squidward! It'll be fun!" he reassured him.

"Yeah, Squidward," the pink seastar sitting next to him said, "don't be such a party pooper!"

Squidward glared at him. "Patrick, shut it."

"Well, it's better than just sittin' around and doin' nothin', right?" the brown squirrel girl next to SpongeBob spoke up.

"See, Squidward? Everybody else agrees!"

"Patrick and Sandy do not count as everybody," Squidward rudely pointed out.

Kairi turned to look over at SpongeBob and asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, uh...How about 'I spy'?" he suggested.

"What's there to spy?" questioned Squidward. "Almost anything inside is too obvious and there's hardly much to look at outside since the only things out there are trees, water, dirt, mud and clouds."

"I guess that's true...How about a song, then?"

"Oh please, no," Squidward groaned quietly to himself.

Mac turned around and stood on his seat in order to look over at SpongeBob. "Do you have one in mind?"

"Well, not yet, but I'm sure we can all think of one." SpongeBob jumped out of his seat and landed in the aisle. He looked around at everyone and asked, "Anybody have any ideas?"

Choosing to ignore SpongeBob, Bloo looked outside of the window again and groaned. "It's still raining," he mumbled to Mac. He hadn't realized that SpongeBob had overheard him until he noticed the yellow creature leap into the air and land between him and his creator.

"Say, now there's an idea."

"What?"

"The rain. We could sing a song about that."

"Do we have to?" Squidward moaned.

"Squidward, would ya quit your whinin'?" Sandy glared at the cephalopod before she gave a more friendly look to SpongeBob. "Alright then. Which one? There're quite a few songs 'bout the rain."

"Well, there's gotta be something that everyone in here knows." SpongeBob stood up again and started walking from row to row. "How about...'Let it Rain'?"

"How about no?" Squidward deadpanned. A few people were now glaring over at Squidward, but he didn't notice.

"What about 'Kentucky Rain'?" a young girl near the front suggested.

"Eh, I don't know that one," said Bloo.

"Love, reign o'er me," Sora whispered quietly to himself.

Kairi turned her head towards Sora and asked "Did you say something?"

He lifted his head and looked back at her. "Huh? Oh, uh, no, it was nothing."

"Alright, if you say so." She could tell that he was lying, but it was probably better not to ask.

"Ooh, I have one!" A thin, pale woman(?) towards the front suddenly shouted. "Does anyone like 'Little April Shower'?"

A resounding "No" was heard from nearly everyone on the bus.

The "woman" slowly slunk down into their seat and looked at the large man next to "her". "Well, I tried."

The man chuckled. "Sometimes is better not to try at all."

"Oh really? Well then, if it's better not to try some things at all, then how exactly do you explain all of _those_ little monsters that you made?" 'she' asked while pointing to a blue, dog-like creature sitting across from them with a little dark-haired girl.

"Eh, is different story."

While all of this was going on, the busdriver, a yellow, slug-like creature with stick-like arms and legs, decided to go outside to check on the two passengers who had volunteered to help fix it (that, and he did need a short break from hearing all of the passengers inside). He was immediately soaked the moment he stepped out, but he paid little attention to that as he walked over to the front of the bus and looked up at a tall, red creature with a yellow raincoat.

"So, uh, how's it going, Mister Wilt?" he asked nervously.

Wilt looked back down at the busdriver and gave him a small shrug. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know." He then glanced over at a redheaded woman who was wearing a blue raincoat and staring blankly at the bus. "Frankie?"

"I just...I don't know what the problem is," she admitted. "Everything seems fine, so I don't know why it just stopped running."

"Well, it's getting kinda late. Maybe I should try again to see if the radio works," the slug mused. Frankie walked up to him and started following him back into the bus.

"Lead the way, Slinkman." She turned her head and looked over at Wilt. "Come on, Wilt."

Wilt started to follow the two of them back inside the bus, but before he reached the doors, he noticed something from out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and looked out towards part of the woods to see if he could spot whatever it was that he thought he saw.

Frankie poked her head out of the bus and looked up at Wilt. "Wilt? What are you doing?"

"I- I thought that I- I'm sorry!" he blurted out quickly before he ran off towards the woods.

"What the- Wilt!" Before she fully realized what she was doing, she was soon running after him. It wasn't easy to follow him due to how wet everything was and how fast he seemed to be going, but she managed to keep up with him right up until he stopped. She put up one hand and rested it on a nearby tree as she caught her breath. "Wilt," she panted between breaths, "what on Earth is this all about?"

"Are you alright?"

"Well, I guess, thanks for-" She stopped when she looked over at him and realized that he was helping up a short, old woman. "Oh."

"Why, thank you, dearie," said the stranger as she started to try and remove some of the mud off of her black dress.

"Ah, you're welcome. It's no big deal, really," he reassured her with a smile.

"It's not often that old Hazel runs into someone willing to help her. Of course, not many people come out here anymore, so-" She cut herself off as she frantically looked around. "Oh, fiddlesticks and featherdusters! My hat's gone!"

"You mean the one that's up there?" Frankie asked while pointing up at one of the trees behind them. The other two looked over to where she was pointing and sure enough, there was a black, pointed hat on the end of a branch.

"Oooh, so that's where it went."

"Huh. Kind of an odd place for a hat to end up," Wilt thought aloud as he reached over and brought it down for the old woman.

"The wind can do strange things sometimes," Hazel quickly noted with a shrug as she took back her hat. She examined it and gently placed it back on her head before she exchanged a few glances with Wilt and Frankie. "You know, it's been a long time since anyone's bothered to help poor little Hazel. Perhaps there's something I could do for you as a way of showing my gratitude?"

Frankie shrugged. "Well, unless you have some sort of knowledge on how to start a bus that refuses to run..."

"Ah, so that's how you ended up out here," she mumbled to herself. "Well, take me to it and I'll see what I can do."

Wilt and Frankie both stared blankly at Hazel. "Are...Are you serious?"

The old lady grinned and gave them a nod. "Hazel is a woman of her word, dearies. Now, show me the way."

* * *

It had been nearly half an hour since Wilt and Frankie ran off into the woods, but at least they came back in one piece and didn't get lost. They both watched Hazel examine the bus.

"How interesting," she mumbled to herself as she stroked her chin. She rose one hand and motioned for the two of them to leave. "Now, there's no need to fret, dears; just head back inside and Hazel will take care of everything."

The two of them exchanged a confused glance with one another before they both slowly nodded and headed back into the bus. They were quite surprised to see most of the passengers were singing to the song 'Singing in the Rain' and that they're reappearance had gone mostly unnoticed.

"Hey Wilt, hey Frankie," Mac greeted with a wave. The both of them waved back before they seated themselves in the row in front of Mac and Bloo just before Slinkman walked over to them.

"So, did you find out what the problem was?" he asked.

"Well, no," Wilt admitted, "but there's someone outside who said that she would-"

He was cut short along with everyone else when there was a sudden green flash from outside and a rapid jolt shook up everyone inside. Whatever had happened was over as quickly as it had begun, and it left everyone looking around in shock and confusion.

"What in the name of Sam Hill was that?" Sandy wondered aloud.

A short, round man with a pointed nose and flipper-like fingers sat up after retrieving his tophat and monocle. "I was pondering the exact same thing," he admitted, "but I suppose that I would be right in assuming that no-one else here has the slightest idea as to what that was."

Feeling slightly dizzy, Slinkman managed to stand up again and made his way back up to the driver's seat. He heaved a big sigh and, without thinking, tried to turn on the engine.

It started.

Slinkman's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it, and judging by some of the looks on the others' faces, they couldn't believe it either. He smiled for a moment while a lot of the others cheered. After he gave a sigh of relief, he stood up and announced, "Alright everyone, now take your seats! We're about to-"

"Wait!" Frankie shouted. She jumped up, ran towards the front, opened the doors and stepped back out into the rain. "Ma'am! I don't know what you did, but we really..." She paused and noticed that the old woman was no longer standing there. Frankie looked around a little more, figuring that she must still be nearby, but she still couldn't find her.

"Frankie?"

Frankie turned around to see Wilt standing by the bus's doors and staring at her. "Wilt, she- She's gone," she said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I noticed, too."

"But...Where did she go? It's not like she just could've disappeared, right?"

"Frankie-"

"Could she?"

Wilt sighed and patted her on the back. "Frankie, I'm sorry, but we really should be going home now. It's getting really late."

"Yeah, you're right," she quietly admitted as she followed him back inside the bus and sat down.

Slinkman cleared his throat and said, "Alright then. As I was saying, everyone please take your seats. We'll be leaving again shortly."

As they drove away, Frankie kept staring out the window, wondering what had happened to that old woman.

* * *

**_A/N: ...That was completely different from what I had initially planned on doing. :/ I think I'll just stop it right there; this seems long enough._**

**_Incidentally, last year I tried to write a Christmas oneshot with a similar premise, only it had a few Danny Phantom characters in it, it involved a train being unable to move on the tracks due to too much snow, and there was a spirit who tried bringing everyone on board some Christmas cheer (and he was more successful at it than SpongeBob was here) despite the fact that he was given some sort of rule from an unseen higher authority to not interact with the living.  
...Trust me; it made more sense in context and sounded better when it was written out._**


	3. Chapter 3: Stranded

**_A/N: Next chapter! Yay! This one actually came to mind almost immediately after I found out what the word was for this week. I think I like this one a little more than the others since I didn't have to constantly struggle with typing it out (at least up until it was mostly done).  
This would've been posted earlier, but I've been really busy the last few days and I got really sick yesterday._**

**_Review responses:_**

**_E350: I thought that guest review might've been you. (Why's FFN randomly logging people out without telling them, anyway?) Well, it's better to find a bus-fixing witch than the kind that will turn you into a newt. Thanks!_**

**_TweenisodeOrange: (looks at above response) ...I seem to make quite a few Monty Python references in these A/Ns, don't I? :P Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean or Peter Pan (though that would be pretty awesome)._**

_Other: There's not much to this one; it's kind of a random thing that's set some time before the first PotC movie and Hook. Yes, Hook. Just keep reading if you really want to know. I hope I handled these characters alright since I've never written for them before._

* * *

**Stranded**

Jack Sparrow gave a tired groan and rubbed one of his eyes as he slowly tried to sit up. It took a moment or two of struggling to find his balance, but he managed to do it, though afterwards he was quickly made aware of a dull pain in a number of places on his back and shoulders. He instinctively started rubbing one sore spot on his sore shoulder and looked it over, taking note of a small, rough patch that he didn't have there before.

"That's interesting," he mumbled to himself. "How'd that get there?"

He then glanced over at a nearby group of rocks and suddenly remembered that he had slipped off of them while looking out for a ship the other day and managed to scrape himself against them in the process.

"Oh. Right."

In an attempt to take his mind off of the pain, he looked out at the horizon again, hoping that today would be the day that a ship would pass by and perhaps rescue him from that desolate chunk of land. Alas, all that there was to see was the sun rising over the ocean. Jack gave a quiet sigh. While it was a wonderful sight, it also showed that he might have to spend yet another day stranded on that island.

"Three days," he reminded himself as he drew his legs up closer to him and rested his hands on his knees. "Three days since that blasted crew up and left me here."

As he let his hands slip down to rest by his sides, his fingers brushed up against something made of glass. He looked down by his side and smirked at the half-filled bottle of rum lying in the sand next to him.

"Well, I suppose things can't be all that bad then, eh?" he said as he reached for the bottle and removed the cork. "After all, there's still plenty of rum left, and where there's rum, there's hope and opportunities."

"Absa-floggin'-lutely," said a voice from somewhere behind him.

Before he could even bring the bottle to his lips, Jack lifted his head up slightly. Was that what he thought it was? He quickly turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw a short, chubby man standing there with a sack slung over his shoulder.

"'Ello," the man said with a smile.

Jack's eyes widened and he gave the stranger a smirk and a laugh just before he turned around and passed out.

* * *

For the second time that day, Jack Sparrow regained consciousness while in pain, only this time it was the back of his head that felt sore. He gave a low grumble as he slowly leaned forward to get his back away from the barrels that were holding him upright.

Wait, barrels?

Jack opened his eyes and started observing his surroundings. It was obvious that he was now on board a ship, but who did it belong to? Hopefully it was someone who didn't know him; he'd have a better chance at slipping away unharmed if it was a stranger. He noticed that the crew looked in no way formal, so it couldn't have belonged to some well-to-do type of sailor.

"I see that you're awake now."

Jack managed to get himself onto his feet and he turned around to find that the source of the voice was that same man he had seen just before he passed out back on the island. "That I am, and I see that, for reasons unknown to meself, you saw fit to bring me aboard your ship." He paused and suddenly asked, "Now why would you go and do that?"

The man shrugged. "Just figured you wanted off of that island. Course, I'm not sure if the captain'll approve of havin' you around 'til the next port."

"Really? And might I ask where this captain of yours is?"

The man tilted his head slightly to look past Sparrow and his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Ye won't have to look too far for 'im, sir."

Jack gave him a quizzical glance before he whirled around and found himself nearly face-to-face with what he assumed to be the captain. He was notably better dressed than the rest of the crew, with a fancy red coat and an almost matching black vest under it. Jack stepped away from him and put on his most convincing smile. "Well, you must be the captain, then."

The captain nodded as he continued to stare questionably at Jack. "And, you are...?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service, sir."

"_Captain_ Jack Sparrow?"

"Well, former," he clarified. "As of a few recent events, it seems that my crew has- quite mistakenly, mind you- seen fit to, er... commit mutiny against me?"

"Mm-hmm." The captain looked past Jack and over at the man who had brought him aboard. "Smee, may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Aye, sir."

While Smee made his way towards the opposite side of the ship, the captain turned his attention back to Jack. "I trust that you won't try to do anything preposterous while you're here?"

"Not at all, captain," he reassured him.

The captain gave him another questionable look before he began to walk over to Smee. Once he was with him, he glanced over at Sparrow again, just to be sure that he was far enough away from them so that he may not be able to overhear what he was about to discuss with his first mate. After he was convinced that they were far enough away, he looked back over at Smee and harshly whispered, "Smee, where did you get this buffoon?"

"He was just lyin' around on an island in the middle of nowhere, and leaving 'im there to die and all just didn't seem like the proper thing to do."

"Perhaps not, but did it ever occur to you that he might have been marooned for a good reason? A crew does not organize a mutiny against their captain without some sort of purpose for doing so."

"I didn't know he was a former captain when I brought 'im here," Smee said defensively. "Besides, how do we know it's not just the heat or the alcohol that's gone to his head and making 'im say nonsense?"

"On the other hand," Jack suddenly cut in as he stepped by Smee's other side, ignoring how he had startled both men, "you gentlemen hardly know me outside of my name and my word that my crew- former crew- stranded me on that godforsaken spit of land you found me on. Since I had no way of escaping said island and you seemed to have the decency to drag me off of there, I see no reason why I would bother lying to you gentlemen. After all, I've only been on here for a short time, I'm outnumbered, and to the best of your knowledge I no longer have a crew to call on, and even if I did it would take them quite some time to get here even if I did manage to contact them. Whatever maddening scheme I'd be trying to pull that way would just be a waste of time in comparison to, say, a full-on attack. Even if I wasn't telling the truth, what chance do I really have against you?"

He paused and looked back and forth between the captain and Smee as they both thought over what he had just said.

"Perhaps you're right," the captain finally agreed, "but if what you said about your crew is the truth, then how can I be sure that you won't come up with some elaborate plan to do the same thing to me?"

Jack smirked. "If I may continue to be honest with you, I actually have no interest in taking charge of this crew; I've me own plans to attend to." He paused. "However, I do feel rather indebted to you, so perhaps I could do something for you to show my gratitude and call us even?"

"I suppose you already have something in mind, then?" the captain asked.

"Ah, you're rather quick, sir," Jack complimented in an attempt to flatter him further. "As a matter of fact, I do. Now, what would you gentlemen say if I told you that I personally know someone- a woman- who can do things so strange that you wouldn't believe it even after you saw it for yourselves?"

The captain's eyebrows rose slightly. "Go on."

Jack leaned in closer to the two of them. "If I may make a humble proposal to you-"

"Which one of us d'ya mean?" asked Smee.

The captain rose his hand to his forehead and quietly shook his head in disappointment while Jack simply rose an eyebrow. "What I mean is this: I can tell you where to find this woman, we'll call ourselves even, and by the next time you make port, and I'll be on my way elsewheres and out of your hair. Now what say you to that?"

"I say that's a very interesting bargain, Mister Sparrow-"

"_Captain_ Sparrow, if you please."

"-but how do I know that this woman of yours will be where you say she is, if she even exists?"

There was a slight pause while Jack thought it over. "You've a point there," he admitted. "However, say that I was willing to personally show you the way to her and vowed not to leave until you've met her yourselves?"

The captain and Smee exchanged a brief glance before they both looked back over at Jack. The captain nodded at Jack. "I'd say that we have an agreement, Captain Sparrow," he said as the two of them shook hands. "However, if this all ends up being some sort of a trick of yours, I'll be sure to make you regret this."

Jack grinned. "You needn't worry about that," he reassured him. "Well, I suppose that settles that then. I'll leave you gentlemen to your business." He released his grip on the captain's hand and left the two of them almost as quickly as he had appeared. He opened his compass and looked out in the direction the needle was pointing. Alright, so this recent bargain of his may have postponed his plans to get his revenge on Barbossa and acquire his beloved Black Pearl again, but this was certainly better than being stranded on that island. Besides, once he had fulfilled his part of their deal, he'd be able to go back to it. However, he couldn't help but wonder for a moment what exactly the captain might want with Tia Dalma once they found her...

'Whatever he wants from her is none of my business,' he thought to himself. 'It's not like anything bad's going to happen to them.'

* * *

**_A/N: And that somewhat explains how Captain James Hook might've ended up finding Neverland. ...Well, okay, not really, but it's a thought._**

**_Now before you say "but in the movie Captain Jack said that he was saved by rum-runners," I know that, but I figured that this might work as a different, non-canon explanation for that. Or maybe he did believe that they were rum-runners. Or maybe they really were rum-runners at the time. Or maybe this is all just part of some strange tale that either Jack or someone else might be telling to another person, which may or may not be the truth. With Captain Jack Sparrow, who really knows?_**


	4. Chapter 4: Horizon

**_A/N: Well, here's the last one. A slight warning, though; this isn't quite as lighthearted as the second and third ones. Your Mileage May Vary on whether or not it's as depressing as the first one or not. It's certainly shorter than the others and much more dialogue-based, so I think it's kinda weaker than the others..._**

**_Review responses:_**

**_E350: I was hoping that someone might like that. :) Thanks for reading!_**

**_Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Highlander, but I'd love to have it on DVD or something along with the soundtrack._**

_Other: This one was gonna be a completely PotC-related chapter, but I decided to try writing about Connor MacLeod and Ramirez instead. Just thought I should tell you that for whatever reason. Also, expect some spoilers (and probably confusion) if you haven't already seen or studied up on Highlander._

* * *

**Horizon**

"What is it you plan on doing once Heather's gone, MacLeod?"

A messy-haired brunette turned his head away from the rising sun and over at the silver-haired man who had asked him the question. "Ramirez, must you-"

"Well, it's better to bring it up now than not ask at all. You know that she's not like us; like it or not, you know that unless someone kills you first, she's going to pass on eventually while you're still here and unable to do the same."

Connor sighed, and then there was a long pause.

"Well?"

Connor crossed his arms and turned away from him. "I don't know," he admitted quietly.

Ramirez calmly approached him. "MacLeod...I know that this is something you'd rather not talk about, but you have to listen to me." He firmly put his hand on Connor's shoulder and gestured toward the sunrise with his other hand. "Now, look out there and tell me what you see."

He looked up and stared at the horizon. "I see the sun coming up," he answered while giving a small shrug.

The elder man nodded. "Good. What else?"

"The land, trees, animals..."

"And?"

Connor turned his head and gave his mentor a confused look. "And what?"

"The world, MacLeod. One day you're going to have to go out there," he explained as he took his hand off of his shoulder, "and I cannot guarantee you that I'll be there with you when you leave."

"I understand all of that-"

"That's good; the sooner you come to terms with that, the better."

"-but how did you deal with the deaths of your wives?"

Ramirez was silent for a moment as he thought about how to answer the question. "I would be lying if I said that it was never painful," he admitted, "but with time, I learned to handle it. We can't constantly dwell on the past if we want to succeed in the future. That is, unless we learn from it."

Connor chuckled, which made Ramirez raise an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"How you always seem to be right."

Ramirez smirked and chuckled with him. "Well, not always, but when you've lived as long as I have, it certainly seems like it." He pat Connor on the shoulder and started to walk away. "Come along, MacLeod; we have other things to attend to today."

He nodded and started to follow after him. "Right..."

* * *

Connor closed his eyes and slowly shook his head as he remembered that one conversation he and Ramirez had all those years ago. The day had finally come where his beloved Heather had died, and in his arms no less. He buried her and marked her grave himself and chose not to look back once he had finished mourning her; it was painful enough for him to stay all those years and just watch his wife wither away as she aged while he remained immortal. Now he had little choice but to move on.

Now it was time for him to broaden his horizons.

* * *

**_A/N: ...Wow, that was cheezy. :/ _****_I hope I've gotten them in character (I've never written for any of the Highlander characters, either) and I hope some of the readers enjoyed at least one of the chapters in this group of oneshots. Incidentally, I'm thinking of expanding on the oneshot in the first chapter, so please vote in my poll and/or tell me if I should._**

**_Well, that's it. I seem to have strayed a lot from the weekly words this time around (at least the third one did, and the second one kinda did, too), so I don't know how well I'll do in this year's contest. Oh well. I'll just wait and see._**


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